Chapter 100
Lucian sighed, feeling a heavy weight on his chest. This was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He had never been proposed to before, let alone by someone as extraordinary as Princess. His mind was a storm of emotions, and his heart felt like it was stuck in an endless loop of confusion.
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No matter how much he had tried to toughen himself after the countless rejections he had suffered in his past, deep down, Lucian remained the same shy, innocent boy who struggled with matters of the heart. And now, faced with Celestia’s bold declaration, he found himself frozen, unsure of what to say.
He didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Rejection was something he knew all too well, the sting of it still fresh in his memory. He didn’t want to put that same pain into someone else’s heart, even though his own had been shattered so many times.
Lucian’s gaze softened as he looked at Celestia. “You must know my story,” he said quietly, a sad smile on his lips. “You must have heard it by now… the countless times I’ve been rejected, and still, I’ve kept hoping. It probably makes me look pathetic, doesn’t it? Like some foolish, obsessed fool, still clinging to a dream that’ll never come true.” His voice trembled a little, though he tried to hold it together.
Celestia, however, was undeterred. Her eyes gleamed with a dangerous intensity as she stared at him, flipping her long black hair back with a swift motion. “I don’t care about your past, Your history doesn’t matter to me. Whether you were rich, poor, broken, or happy, I still want you. And I will have you.”
Her words hit him like a wave, washing over him with a force he wasn’t prepared for. Celestia’s conviction was unshakable, and her obsession, dangerous. Lucian could see the darkness in her eyes, a fiery intensity that was as captivating as it was frightening.
But still, he couldn’t shake the feelings of uncertainty. He met her gaze, his own eyes filled with sorrow. “I can’t do that anymore,” he said softly, almost a whisper. “I don’t have the capacity to love anyone. I don’t even know if I want to. It’s just… I can’t. My heart’s gone, Celestia. I don’t have anything left to give.” He swallowed hard, looking away from her, as if the weight of his words might crush him. “Please, forgive me. I don’t deserve your feelings. You shouldn’t want someone like me.”
Celestia said nothing at first. She simply stared at him, her gaze piercing and unwavering. Lucian felt a wave of discomfort rise within him as he avoided her eyes, unable to face the anger and disappointment he might see there. But when she spoke, her voice was cold, sharp.
“Do you really think its cool to show that you loved one girl and after rejection not even giving yourself a chance trying to act like some Hollywood hero? Do you think you’re the only one who’s suffered because of love?” she asked, her tone icy with contempt. “You let rejections break you? You give up on everyone just because one girl turned you away?”
Lucian flinched at the force of her words. She wasn’t just angry; she was disgusted, not by the rejection, but by his weakness. He felt it felt her judging him, looking at him like he was pathetic. And perhaps, in some ways, he was.
“Stop acting like some helpless person,” Celestia continued, her eyes narrowing. “It disgusts me. I’ve watched you rise come to top took the position of greatest looking down on everything,you know thousands of people will give anything just too see you…the black some people dreams are to reach your position in all there life time. And now, you act like this? Like you’re some weak, insignificant fool who can’t move on from his past? It’s beneath you.”
Her words struck deeper than she could have imagined. Lucian felt a pang of guilt, a sharp reminder that she was right. He had allowed his past failures to define him. He had let the pain of past rejection cage him, and in doing so, he had become a prisoner of his own sorrow.
“I… I can’t just forget what happened,” he said softly, his voice cracking as the weight of his memories threatened to overwhelm him. “I don’t know how to move on. Every time I try, I just feel this… emptiness. I’m afraid to love again. Afraid of the pain. That’s why I rejected her, even though I still care about her. I couldn’t go through it again. I don’t think I can ever love anyone the way I did before.”
Celestia’s eyes didn’t softened not even for a moment, there was no sympathy in them, only understanding. She didn’t pity him, but she saw the torment in his soul.
“So, you still want her, don’t you?” Celestia asked, her voice devoid of emotion as she watched him. “Even after everything she’s done to you?”
Lucian hesitated, the question cutting deeper than he expected. His mind raced, the confusion gnawing at him. He didn’t know. He didn’t even understand his own heart anymore. “I don’t know,” he admitted, the words hanging heavy in the air. “I don’t know what I want.”
Celestia’s expression darkened, though there was still a hint of something soft in her gaze. “You rejected her two days ago, but you’re still tangled in your feelings for her? You’re letting your past control you.”
Lucian exhaled a long, shaky breath. “I just didn’t want to feel that pain again,” he said, his voice strained. “The pain of loving someone and then losing them. I couldn’t bear it.”
Celestia leaned forward, her gaze intense as she fixed him with a piercing stare. “You’re not the only one who’s been hurt there are many people in this world. But if you let that pain control you, you’ll never find happiness. You’ll never be free.”
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